Roller track



Oct. 9, 1934.

c. G. JOHNSON ROLLER TRACK Filed March 18, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet ATTORNEYS Oct. 9, 1934. c. cs. JOHNSON ROLLER TRACK FiledMarch 1a, 1953 ZShbets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES ROLLER- TRAGK Clarence G. Johnson, Hartford City, Ind.

Application March 18,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in channel track used in connection with vertical lift doors of the horizontally defiectable type.

The channel track of which the invention is a an improvement is of that type in which there is a main channel within which the rollers on the adjacent margin of the door are disposed to support a door in its vertical position and to guide tie door during its operation and in which there (i is also provided an auxiliary channel for the rollers to guide them against lateral shifting of the door during its movements between its open and closed positions.

The object of the invention is to eliminate from 5 the web of the track angles between the juncture of the web with the tread of the track and at the same time retain provision for peripheral contact of the rollers with the sides of the auxiliary channel formed by a portion of the web and a lip or wall on one of the treads. Accordingly, the web of the track has a flat plane surface and is inclined with respect to the treads.

An advantage of this form of construction is in the resulting simplification of the manufacture of the track and the resulting strength of the manufactured track.

The following is a description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention taken in connection with the appended claims and accompanying 0 drawings.

Figure 1 is a substantially medial vertical section through a door installation; r

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing in cross section the frame of 5 the doorway, the door, the track at each vertical margin of the door, and the track supporting bracket;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation showing a view of the door on the horizontal portion of the track and (5 supported by a track at two oppositemargins ofthe door;

Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in cross section of the track and its supporting-bracket;

Fig. 5 is a detail view in elevation of the track 5, and supporting bracket shown in Figure 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail view partly in cross section of a modification of the track, together with its supporting bracket;

Fig. 7 is a detail view in elevation of the track a and supporting bracket shown in Figure 6;

Fig. 8 is a detail view partly in cross section of another modification of the track and of its supporting bracket;

Fig. 9 is a detail view in elevation of the track 5 andsupporting bracket shown in Figure 8;

1933, Serial No. 661,528

Fig. is a detail view partly in cross section of another modification of the track together with its supporting bracket.

Referring first to the conventional parts of the door illustrated in Figure 1, an outline of the structure of a building consists of a door jamb 1,

a header 2, a ceiling joist 3 and a. portion 4 of a vertical wall between the header and the ceiling joist. i

A door 5 composed of a plurality of panels 6 hinged at their joints by a hinge '7 is suspended in vertical position to close the doorway in opera tive connection with counterbalancing means 23.

At the vertical margins of the door the hinges '7 constitute a bracket carrying a roller stem 8 which extends beyond the vertical margin of the door and at its terminal carries a roller 9. Tracks 10 are positioned to locate the rolling path of the, rollers at the vertical side edges of the door and spaced therefrom, and the door seating face is located between the roller axis and the jamb seating face during the vertical travel of the door.

The track 10 is mounted adjacent the jamb of the doorway and is provided with a main channel 11 in which the rollers are disposed to hold the door in vertical position and in which the rollers travel and guide the door during its opening and closing movements.

The members 14 and 15 constitute treads for the track. It is seen that the distance between the member 14 and the member 15 is greater" .than the diameter of the roller 9, thus insuring against binding during the door movements. In addition the member 14 is of a lateral length in cross section as to place its free edge approximately oppositethe inner line of the member 15, thus the two members lie opposite the roller path so that any movement of the door to carry the roller away from one tread face will bring the roller into contact with the other tread face.

The main channel is formed by the tread sur faces 14 and 15 and their uniting web 13.

The guiding channel 11 forms a barrier for the door edge by the engagement of the rollers therewith in which barrier the door is slidably 10o supported in its vertical position and the door being freely disposed within this barrier and otherwise unsupported vertically will during its opening and closing movements be subjected to a. lateral shifting movement. This movement tends to create a frictional binding between the rollers on one of the vertical margins of the door and the track and tends to move the rollers on the other vertical margin of the door out of the channel. One of the treads is therefore pro vided with a flange 16 which together with the tread and the adjacent portion of the web constitutes an auxiliary channel 12 guiding the rollers and the door against the lateral shifting. The flange 16 and the web 13 are inclined with respect to the tread surface and divergingaway from each other, so as to limit the contact between theroller and the walls of the auxiliary channel to a point or limited zone contact.

It has been found advantageous to continue the web leading from the tread constituting part of the auxiliary channel in a flat plane surface to its juncture with the opposite tread. This eliminates angles from the face of the web and simplifies the manufacture of the track and strengthens it, while still preserving the point or limiting zone contact with the peripheral margin of the roller.

The tread 15 is approximately equal in width to the overall width of the roller and the angle of inclination of the web 13 is such as to permit 'contact only of the margin of the periphery of the roller with the web and such as will not unduly increase the length of the tread 14. The vertical portion of the track is secured in position relative to the jamb by the bracket 17 andsecuring means 18 through the web and the bracket. In order to prevent contact between the securing means through the web and the bracket with the roller, longitudinal channels 19 are provided in the web 13. The securing means 18 may be located in such channel without projecting beyond the interior surface of the web 13, thereby permitting the inclination of the web to be made at a sharper angle with respect to the tread 15 and to be disposed closer to the path of the rollers.

Figs. 6 and? illustrate a modification in which the flange 16 is squared instead of' inclined, and Fig. 10 is another modification in which the tread 12 is curvilinear with the outward portion thereof serving as a substitute for the flange 16.

What I claim is:

1. A channel track for vertical lift door installations wherein the track is located adjacent the vertical edges of the door and in the rolling path of rollers at the vertical edges of the door to support the door in vertical position and to guide thedoor during its opening and closing movements with the door seating face located between the roller axis and the jamb seating face during vertical travel thereof, said track comprising a. pair of oppositely spaced treads between which the rollers are disposed and with either of which the roller may contact, said treads being operative to hold the door in vertical position and to guide it during its movements, a web uniting the said treads, a cross section of the track presenting a substantially planar face connecting said treads with said planar face inclined relative to at least one of'the treads at an angle less than that of a right angle, and a marginal wall on one of the said treads, a portion of the inclined face of the web and the inner face of said marginal wall forming part of an auxiliary channel to guide the rollers against the lateral shifting of the door during its movements between opened and closed positions and in which the rollers contact the web only at a point adjacent the periphery of the rollers.

2. A channel track for vertical lift door installations wherein the track is located adjacent the vertical edges of the door and in the rolling path of rollers at the vertical edges of the door by a plurality of brackets and securing means through each bracket and the web of the track to support the door in vertical position and to guide the door during its opening and closing movements with the door seating face located between the roller axis and the jamb seating face during vertical travel thereof, said track comprising a pair of oppositely spaced treads between which the rollers are disposed to hold the door in vertical position and to guide it during its movements, a web uniting the said treads, a crosssection of the track presenting the inner web face as inclined relative to at least one of the treads, a longitudinal channel in the said web opening interiorly of the track within which the track and bracket securing means may be located out of contact with the said rollers.

CLARENCE G. JOHNSON. 

